FG Petitions Iran Over Smuggling Of Two Azman’s Aircraft

On behalf of the Federal Govern­ment, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will at any mo­ment from now, write its Iranian counterpart, the Civil Aviation Authority of Islamic Republic of Iran (CAA.IRI), over the contro­versial smuggling of two Nigeri­an registered aircraft to Mahran Air by Azman Air......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>

It was gathered that the sale of the two aircraft was without the knowledge of the NCAA, the apex regulatory agency in civil aviation industry in Nigeria.

It was learnt that the two aircraft have been deregistered by the Iranian airline. ­

Mr. Michael Achimugu, the Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, on Monday, con­firmed that the regulatory agency was planning to write the Iranian CAA for clarity on the status of the two aircraft.

Achimugu also said that NCAA would write Azman Air to investigate the alleged turning off of the transponder of the aircraft, but said it didn’t “happen in our jurisdic­tion.”

He, however, said that the agency was not aware of the sale of any aircraft, insisting that the airplanes had not been deregistered in Nigeria.

The controversial air­craft are Airbus A340-600 with the registration num­ber: 5N-AAM and Boeing 737-300 with the registra­tion number: 5N-YSM.

The two aircraft, A340- 600 and B737-300, are presently stored in Teram Imam Khomeini (IKA) and Tehran and Mehrabad (THR), Iran, respectively, and sold to the Iranian air­line in violation of inter­national sanctions against Iran.

Achimugu said, “We are writing Iran CAA on the controversial aircraft. We have limited informa­tion on the two aircraft at the moment, but we plan to write to Iran CAA soon for clarity on the controversial issue. We can’t make cate­gorical statements now until we get proper infor­mation.”

Investigation conduct­ed by our correspondent, indicated that the two air­craft were taken to Iran on November 16, 2024, barely a few days after they re­turned from service.

For instance, investi­gation indicated that the A340-600 aircraft, which is 18.4 years old, entered into service of Azman Air on November 28, 2020, but was stored barely three years later on August 1, 2023 at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MA­KIA), Kano.

The controversial air­craft, however, returned to service eight months later, June 4, 2024, to be precise, but was stored once again on July 5, 2024, at Kano airport, which was barely a month after returning from service.

However, on November 16, 2024, the aircraft was delivered to Tehran Imam Khomeini (IKA), Iran.

Production history of the aircraft indicated that it was manufactured in 2006 with the Serial Num­ber (MSN) 765, and had test registration: F-WWCK, Toulouse, France.

Furthermore, operator history showed that the aircraft was first delivered to Virgin Atlantic in Au­gust 2006 with the regis­tration number: G-VYOU and configuration number: C45W38Y225.

Also, the information showed that the aircraft was delivered to Doric Avi­ation in October 2019 with the same registration num­ber G-VYOU.

Barely a month later, the aircraft was delivered to European Aviation, a Unit­ed Kingdom based compa­ny in November 2019 with the registration number: 2-EALJ, which operated it for four months.

However, the same aircraft was delivered to Azman Air in March 2020 with the registration num­ber: 5N-AAM and configu­ration number: C2Y411.

Also, the B737-300 air­craft was manufactured in 1997 and it’s 27.8 years old at the moment with the Manufacturing Seri­al Number (MSN): 28557 in Renton, United King­dom.

The aircraft was first op­erated by British Midland with the registration num­ber: G-SMDB and engine number: 2x CFMI.

The aircraft was lat­er acquired from British Midland by bmi British Midland in February 2001 and later acquired by Go Fly, another United King­dom airline with a new reg­istration number: G-IGOO and configuration number: YI48 in Mar 2002.

Besides, the aircraft was later possessed by easyjet in July 2002 with the same registration number: G-IG­OO.

Also, the airplane was delivered to bmibaby in November 2005 with a new registration number: G-TOYF and was named ‘Rainbow Baby,’ by the air­line.

The same aircraft was later acquired by Azman Air in November 2013 and re-registered as: 5N-YSM and was named ‘Alhaji Yunusa Sarina’ by the new owner.

On November 21, 2022, the aircraft was stored at Istanbul Ataturk, Turkey, till January 6, 2024, when it was brought to Kano till April 6, 2024 where it was stored again.

From May 22, 2024, till November 15, 2024, the aircraft was stored at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Inter­national Airport (NAIA), Abuja, from where it was flown to Iran on Novem­ber 16, 2024. Presently, the aircraft is stored at Tehran Mehrabad.

However, an industry source warned that the sale of the two aircraft to Iran, a country with severe sanctions from the United States of America (USA), may have an effect on Ni­geria.

Our correspondent also learnt that Mahran Air had attempted previously to operate on the Nigerian route, but failed.

Also, it was gathered that the Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) of Azman Air had expired for several months, until it was “suddenly renewed without going through the whole renewal process” by the NCAA.

The source said: “If the above story is true and I won’t be surprised if it is so considering the past antecedents of Azman Air management, Nigeria could end up with a rough ride with the western world and possible fil­ing against Nigeria with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

“The only serviceable B737 suffered an engine failure after operating a couple of flights. Azman A340 was flown to Iran be­cause an AOC was issued by the NCAA. There may be a crisis on the way for Nigeria for possible viola­tions of sanctions because of a Nigerian licensed do­mestic operator.

“Azman has been des­perately trying to sell their aircraft to other domestic operators. Is this a possible sale to Iranian Mahan Air­line in violation of inter­national sanctions? Mahan Air over the past couple of years has sought to operate on the Nigerian route with­out success.”

Also, calls made to Al­haji Abdulmunaf Yunusa, the Chairman, Azman Air, were declined, while mes­sages sent to him were also not responded to.

Azman Air was accused of helping to bypass sanc­tions against the Iranian aviation industries by the United States Treasury Department by delivering it with the two aircraft.

The Iranian government seeks to exploit the decline of U.S. and French influ­ence in sub-Saharan Afri­ca to increase its political, economic, and military influence on the continent.

The U.S. Treasury De­partment has sanctioned both the Islamic Revolu­tionary Guard Corps and many Iranian officials due to their support for terror­ism.

For decades, sanctions imposed on the Iranian aviation industries were challenging for the regime and its military and civil­ian entities to bypass.

However, as the Revolu­tionary Guards expanded their African presence, Mahan Air, Iran’s largest airline, was able to use its connections on the conti­nent to acquire passenger aircraft and business jets from Africa into Iran.

It was learnt that while the aircraft was flying from Kano to Kabul, its crew turned off the Auto­matic Dependent Surveil­lance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transponder at an altitude of 39,000 feet after entering Iranian airspace, though it eventually landed at Teh­ran’s Mehrabad Interna­tional Airport.

The airline it was learnt had also sought to obtain more Azman Air Airbus A340-642 wide-body pas­senger aircraft, adding that on December 11, 2024, French authorities inter­cepted one such plane at the Châteauroux airport, 150 miles south of Paris, as it was preparing to fly to Kaduna, where Azman Air intended to store it for sev­eral days before changing its registration code and then flying it to Iran.